Per Mertesacker is entrusted with the job of collecting fines from Arsenal players in breach of club discipline but the German may find himself going cap in hand to manager Arsene Wenger for his place in the team.

Should the move be formalised in the next few days, it will bring to an end the 26-year-old's forgettable period with Arsenal.

Signed for an undisclosed fee from Lille believed to be in the region of £10million in July 2011, Gervinho was sent off on his Premier League debut against Newcastle after an altercation with Magpies midfielder Joey Barton.

He scored just four goals in 28 league matches in the 2011-12 season, while he was behind Lukas Podolski, Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott in the pecking order at the Emirates Stadium last term.

He made 26 appearances in all competitions - 18 in the league - in the last campaign and Arsenal's intentions to strengthen their forward line this summer would have marginalised him further still.

Now, however, he is on the verge of once again linking up with Roma boss Rudi Garcia, under whom he worked when the pair were at Lille.